Sand and Plecos...

They'll be fine with sandy sustrate.

I second that...

...substrate...

Hi!
Well sand is a good choice! It is pretty natural. If you don't have a setup with strong flow/current well that is a good choice other wise if you are setting up a river Xingu like tank with a lot of powerhead to make a good and heavy water flow inside yoour tank, well thin gravel would be a better choice as it will avoid ( a bit more but surely not completly) to be taken away by the current/flow!!!
Cheers
Yann

Yann, Its good to have you back! I know a couple of people around here missed you

Hi!
Thanks a lot!
Glad to be back here as well!
I was pretty busy lately and could hardly find time to come on the net. Barely have time to read my mail.
I am still busy but manage to organize myself better so I got a little spare time that I can use by coming here

The new forum is coll but it is too bad that They have not kept some of the old post!
Cheers
Yann

i thought pleco's would consume the sand and choke thinking it's algae.

that makes sense. tell me, how would they live in the wild if the first thing they did as soon as they hatched out was go choke on some sand?

Plecos and sand do quite well together. Common plecos might eat a bit of it, but it'll move their digestion along and help weight down the waste so it's easier to vac. Some of the other species actually enjoy diggin in sand. I had a 8 inch vampire I called "Ditch witch" because he would carve trenches to travel in.

There are some good threads to search here on how to clean your sand so you only get heavier particles. Avoids water cloud, and you can have lots of sideways current via powerheads, which will double your pleco's pleasure in life.

I want pics when you're set up!